US, UK discuss 'strong, united' response against 'Russian aggression' towards Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss on Thursday discussed the retaliatory, strong and the united response against the Russian aggression on Ukraine over a telephonic conversation, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an official statement. “The Secretary and Foreign Secretary Truss agreed on the importance of reinforcing coordinated support amongst allies and partners to impose consequences and costs for further Russian aggression towards Ukraine,” he said. The dialogue came after the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary warned Moscow that any Russian incursion into neighbouring Ukraine will have dire consequences. 

“Any Russian incursion would be a massive strategic mistake and would be met with strength, including coordinated sanctions with our allies to impose a severe cost on Russia’s interests and economy,” Liz Truss said in a statement on Dec. 23, Thursday. The “only way out of the current situation” for Russia was through dialogue, she said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday reiterated that he wants an "immediate response" from the US and its allies for security guarantees that it demanded. "This is not our choice, we do not want this,” he told reporters at the conference when asked about a possibility of a war. He, although, did not completely rule out the prospects of a conflict as he said that  NATO had “brazenly tricked” Russia with successive waves of expansion over several years. "We just directly posed the question that there should be no further NATO military movement to the East. The ball is in their court, they should answer us with something,” Putin asserted. 

“President [Biden] has been extremely clear for many, many years about some basic principles that no one is moving back on: the principle that one country does not have the right to change by force the borders of another, that one country does not have the right to dictate the policies of another or to tell that that country with whom they may associate,” Blinken earlier told the reporters in Washington.

“One country does not have the right to exert a sphere of influence. That notion should be relegated to the dustbin of history.”

Russia earlier iterated that it simply "has nowhere to retreat" if United States’ weapons appear in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if the US deploys its weapons in Ukraine to push Kyiv to attack Crimea, its allies need to understand that Moscow will not deter from a response. The United States has not deployed any hypersonic weapon yet, said the Russian leader, “but we know when it will appear — they cannot hide it,” he warned, according to Russian news agency TASS. At a press conference earlier yesterday, the Russian leader also accused the West of “coming with its missiles to our doorstep” as he threatened NATO of military action against NATO’s expansionist agendas in eastern Europe and parts of Ukraine. 

In this photo Attache of the Land Forces at the US Embassy in Ukraine Colonel Brandon Presley looks at the map. [Credit: AP]

'They keep telling us: war, war, war,': Putin lashes out 

Putin reminded that it’s the United States and its allies that have deployed military weapons in close vicinity to Moscow and not the other way round. “They keep telling us: war, war, war,” Putin said. “There is an impression that, maybe, they are preparing for the third military operation [in Ukraine] and give us a fair warning: do not intervene, do not protect these people but if you do intervene and protect them, there will be new sanctions. Perhaps, we should prepare for that.” The Russian leader made clear that he was seeking an “immediate” response to his demands over NATO and would not tolerate foreign military presence around the Russian territory. 

The Russian leader then asked for new security guarantees from the West in the upcoming talks with the US which involves the NATO, US allies to remove the military that it deployed since Moscow’s accession to the alliance in 1997. Russia needs an “immediate” response from the US, and NATO Putin asserted at the conference. “We have made it clear that Nato’s move to the east is unacceptable,” he said. “The United States is standing with missiles on our doorstep. Is it an excessive requirement not to install shock systems at our house? How would the Americans react if missiles were placed at the border with Canada or Mexico?” 

Russian tanks take part in a military drill at Molkino training ground in the Krasnodar region, Russia. [Credit: AP]

Putin expressed anger stating that NATO claimed that they wouldn’t expand, “but they are expanding” as he lashed out at the United States’ behaviour reiterating that he wants security guarantees “right away, right now”. His remarks came as Russia’s defence ministry deployed 1,200 paratroopers near the annexed Crimea and Krasnodar region. At least 250 military vehicles and fighter aircraft flew in the region. Russian media also went berserk reporting against the NATO and threatening the US to step away and draw down the NATO troops and weaponry. “The TV set in our barrack hysterically fights Nato all day long,” wrote jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.